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Wednesday, June 27, 2018

24 Hours to Hell And Back - Brownstone Bistro Update

Tonight on 24 Hours To Hell and Back, Gordon Ramsay is in Los Angeles, California to try to save Brownstone Bistro. Brownstone Bistro is a restaurant owned by Clive Jackson which serves California-Caribbean fusion food and is known for its Sunday Brunch. While Gordon is there he notices bad service, and finds out about a tragedy in Clive's life that has had a big impact on his life and business. Gordon will try to turn the restaurant around in 24 hours by transforming the staff and getting them to work together as a team.

Let's take a look at some information, reviews, and updates for Brownstone Bistro since 24 Hours To Hell and Back and Gordon Ramsay made all of the changes to the restaurant (note - all reviews are post-makeover).

Positive Reviews:

"Their Sunday bottomless mimosa brunch is amazing! They tend to draw an older crowd, so it's not your usual West LA, Mid City, Melrose youthful and trendy spot, but the buffet food is absolutely delicious!... Some of the servers could work on being more friendly and being better at checking in with customers when they get busy. "

"It was very nice and peaceful. The art, the lighting, the decor very nice. It is great for parties like graduation dinner, friends and family dinner or date night. The food was delicious and had some soul. The catfish.. OMG"

"This place has an ambiance that is heavenly the food is amazing, the staff is kind. I come here often to celebrate birthdays with my girls or to brunch with the ladies. This would totally be a good date night [place, I wouldn't recommend the environment for kids. Sunday brunch is the way to go for sure."

"I usually go on Thursday night for the $17 buffet which consist of Mac & Cheese, Caribbean rice & peas, vegetables, yams, plantains, jerk chicken, fried fish, oxtails, fried chicken, maybe some soup, salad, and dessert. The oxtails honestly is the main reason why I go such good flavor. The customer service is good as well."

"the FOOD were all absolutely incredible!! Everything was so amazing that I just had to meet the owner. This man came to the table and from his presence I could tell why the restaurant was so amazing. Sunday's brunch was reasonably priced and well worth every cent. This will not be my last time!!"

"So so so good!! The dinner buffet is the best - ox tails, fried fish, chicken, yams, Mac and cheese, rice, veggies, etc. You will definitely be thinking about the food the next day and beyond! I took a couple friends to try it out and they keep saying how much they want to go back."

"A hidden gem..great food with Saturday and Sunday all you can eat buffet. Had the gumbo, jerk chicken, and tri tip... So so good!!"

"they recently remodeled and it's like night and day compared to the old BSB. I was there last night and it really POPS now. All I can say is that you'd better get there now because it will soon become THE PLACE to go to in LA! Thanks Clive, Nicole, Sonia, Tressa and the rest of the crew there. Luv all of you."

Negative Reviews:

"This place came highly recommended but i was deeply disappointed. First of all they ran out of food at the buffet, the waffles were half done, and portion of what they had was terribly small. We ask to speak to the manager and he never came. "

*Reviews from Yelp

Other News and Links:

The show was filmed at the restaurant in October 2017.

Here are two preview videos of the episode from YouTube - Video 1, Video 2

Clive Jackson said in an interview about the show, "Out of the blue, a production company called and asked if we wanted to be part of a food show that would give us the budget to refurbish the restaurant. I said what’s the catch? At the time, they never disclosed who was behind the show."

In that interview, it said the restaurant is very busy now and the current menu is the one created with Gordon Ramsay. They also have customer favorites as nightly specials.

Brownstone Bistro has positive reviews both before and after the makeover with 4.6 out of 5 on Google (123 reviews), 4 out of 5 on Yelp (202 reviews), and Tripadvisor 4.5 out of 5 (16 reviews).

Here is an article about Clive Jackson Jr.'s murder. His killer was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. (Link)

Conclusion:
The reviews for Brownstone Bistro after the 24 Hours to Hell and Back makeover by Gordon Ramsay are overwhelmingly positive. People seem to love the food, especially the buffets, and also like the ambiance/atmosphere. It seems that the reviews for the restaurant were also positive before the makeover. Clive said in an interview that the production company called him out of the blue asking if he wanted to be part of a show that would refurbish the restaurant. So perhaps the restaurant wasn't struggling in the first place.

UPDATE 12/2018 - It appears that Brownstone Bistro closed around August 2018. There are Yelp reviews and Facebook posts from customers that state the restaurant is closed and the website address is no longer active.